This Blog accompanies my class Miss Bronte Meets Miss Pym. There are graphics and photos, bliographies and lists of books in print. Included is information about related topics and The other Brontes, Shirley Jackson, Laura Ingalls Wilder and Susan Glapsell. Please visit often, and feel free to visit whether you are in my course or not.
In Memory of our Friend Cathy Berta

I've just posted a link for "Miss Pym's Day Out", (1991), starring Patricia Routledge, aka, Hyacinth Bucket of "Keeping Up Appearances." Miss R. is around 87 years old today, and has had a distinguished and varied career, including a role in "To Sir with Love." I found it interesting in reading of her that her costar in "Keeping up Appearances", Clive Swift, married Margaret Drabble, a novelist I included in my study and book on Pym. A Google search produced a lot of information about Routledge and her co-starts. As I wrote in my own book, she plays numerous characters that are very much in line with Pym's Excellent Women. For those interested, there are several video reviews of Pym's novels, and other documentaries about her.

Monday, June 27, 2016

Marcia and her milk bottles, plastic bags, and tins are
frequently commented on in books on collecting, like Susan Pearce’s The Collector’s Voice-Modern Voices. Other
characters have their collecting predilections and hobbies, too, and several
types of collectibles appear in her novels. Here is a list of a few of them:

A
Faberge Egg

Miss Grime’s
Bits and Pieces

A
Father Christmas Figurine

Cycladic
Idols made of dough

Norman’s love of
“stuffed” animals at the museum

The
Bishop’s soap animals

The
character who loves to “collect” unusual license plate numbers

Numerous
jumble sales mentioned

James
the antiques dealer in The Sweet
Dove Died, and Leonora’s antiques and collectibles

One female character,
Daphne, is so in love with Aegean, that she
tries baking Cycladic idols from bread dough. See my book,
The Subversion of Romance in the Novels of Barbara Pym, or my dissertation,
‘In Small Things Forgotten’: the
Subversion of Romance in the Novels of Barbara Pym. She also approximates a
Greek peasant lunch of bread, olives, cheese, and tomatoes.Frankly, I cut all these up and make tomato
Greek salad, and use the bread to dip into the olive oil mixed with crushed
tomatoes.

Pictured is the Cycladic idol I photographed in Milwaukee.More photos exist online, and in the website
and catalogues of Sadigh Gallery. The idols are goddess figures, more than 5000
years old.The large size of the doll or
figure in Milwaukee
is, in my experience, unusual.I have an
alabaster example and another modern figure cast in bronze or brass metal.
There is more on them in my posts for Collect Dolls at About.com and on my own
blogs “DollMuseum”,
and “Dr. E’s DollMuseum.” Winifred Gerin
has written an excellent pamphlet on ancient dolls, which I bought on
Amazon.com a few years ago.

Friday, June 17, 2016

We salute the life of Hazel Holt, author of the Mrs. Mallory mysteries, and friend, confidante, coworker, and editor to Barbara Pym. The last Mrs. Mallory mystery is out at Barnes and Noble. Holt left us in 2015; her legacy never forgotten.

Monday, June 6, 2016

Today, I chose to honor my friend BJ, who left us so quickly ten years ago, but whose birthday would have been today. She was beautiful, smart, kind, all the things "excellent women" should be. BJ never forgot a birthday or a holiday; she gave me her doll house and of tips and ideas on antique dolls and collectibles. She listened, and she acted, and was interested in everything. I miss her everyday, and I will be by soon with flowers for her. For BJ:

Painting by B.J. Flaherty

Bette Jo 'BJ' Flaherty

Quad-City Times Obituaries

May 25, 2006

ANDALUSIA, Ill. -- Bette Jo "BJ" Flaherty, of Andalusia, Ill., died unexpectedly at her home Wednesday, May 24. A celebration of life service will be 5 p.m. Sunday at Wheelan-Pressly Funeral Home, Milan. Visitation will be 1-4 p.m. Sunday at the funeral home. Burial will be at Chippiannock Cemetery, Rock Island, at a later date. Memorials may be made to the American Heart Association or the Kaplan University scholarship fund designated for a travel student. BJ was born June 6, 1942, in San Diego, Calif., the daughter of Joseph and Bernice Knapp Beauchamp. She grew up in Davenport and graduated from Rock Island High School in 1960. She married Robert L. Flaherty, June 16, 1984, at St. Patrick's Catholic Church, Andalusia. BJ was director of Student Services and Program Coordinator for Travel at Kaplan University, Davenport, for 19 years. She touched the lives of her students and took pride on seeing them succeed in personal achievement. With her expertise in cruising the Carribean for more than 30 adventures, she enjoyed sharing the new experience of travel with her students and family. Her joy was being an AKC Shitzu breeder for 23 years. She took great pleasure in gardening and being creative with her painting talents and decorating flair. BJ had a contagious positive attitude with everyone she came in contact with. Her true love was being entertained by her grandchildren. She will be truly missed by her family and friends. BJ is survived by her husband, Bob; children and spouses, Randy and Dawn Swanson, Rock Island, Rusty and Jane Swanson, Tulsa, Okla., and Kelli Buss, Franklin, Tenn.; grandchildren, Emilee and Evan Swanson, Brooks and Seth Swanson and Luke and Ella Buss; sister and brother-in-law, Pam and Rick Davies, Coal Valley, Ill.; and nieces, Alexis Davies, Kim Verbeckmoes and Kari Searle. She was preceded by her parents and brother, Jim Beauchamp. Online condolences may be left at http://www.wheelanfuneralhome.com" target= "_blank">www.wheelanfuneralhome.com.